Iowa basketball always struck me as a poor man's Michigan. They, too, were a pretty strong program (though not quite as good as us) until their coach (Tom Davis) was pushed out in the late '90s, at which point they fell apart and have never fully recovered. They've gone through a few coaches since then and have trouble filling up their home arena (whereas they've never had trouble selling out in football). They've followed the same basic course as us, but they always seem to be just a little worse than we are.

I didn't watch much basketball during the Tom Davis time, but I did look it up and Alford maybe 3 NCAA tourney appearances, and 3 NIT visits. His best year was 05-06 went 25-9 tied for second in the conference and won the conference tourney pretty good year.

While we wait for the game update on CMU and are old friend Trey Zeigler. CMU currently leads Niagara 40-38 halfway through the secong half in an ESPN bracetbuster game not being shown on any ESPN channel... For the year Central sits at 8-17, a major disappointment. Trey is actually having a really decent year but it really doesn't seem like it with the way the team has played and today he's shooting 2-9 from the feild and 1-4 from the line.

Actually, I'm a little confused with Stu. He was right under the basket to get an offensive rebound, but before it hit, he started sprinting across the court to defend. I may not be the best basketball strategist, but why would he just give up his ground like that. Could have been easy points as the ball landed at the area he vacated.

Michigan looking good so far up 11-4. Morgan getting some good moves going.

Following a nice start, JB goes to his hopeless lineup where Smot plays the 5 and gets abused for 6 straight points in the paint. Am I the only one sitting on my couch thinking that Horford should be in every time Morgan sits? Really infuriating that they keep trotting this hapless line out there every game.

Usually the refs only allow the home team no/little fouls if they are good (see: Michigan vs. OSU at Value City Arena).

Hmm...

Edit: To whoever negged me, in the 2nd half of that game, OSU was in double bonus and only had 1 foul called on them, so the fouls were 10+ to 1 in favor of OSU at one point. They didn't pick up their first foul until halfway through the 2nd half. I don't think it's ever that lopsided.

Feels like Novak hasnt made an open 3 since the Michigan State game. He HAS to get going because thats pretty much his whole offensive contribution. If hes not hiting 3's he becomes a liability on the offensive end because the other team knows that hes unlikely to drive to the hoop. Thats the key to this second half. If Novak (and all the other shooters: Hardaway, Douglass, Smotz, Vogrich) can hit the open 3's... Then again isnt that always the key to every game for this team?

I wouldnt go that far... Hardaway, D-Mo, and Smotz have all shown the ability to drive to the hoop and also shoot the mid-range jump shot. However, with Novak, if his shot is not falling then his only option is to drive and pass, pretty much...

We were playing very aggressive, attacking D to start the game. Then, after we got out lead, we sat back and let them get the ball inside - and the fouls came raining in. I'm no basketball expert but to me this is the key.

These refs are terrible. Some of the calls against Michigan have been attrocious. Looks like Iowa is finally getting a bunch of cheap fouls too. Lay off your whistle and just let the kids play basketball. COMEON

Why are they talking about waiving the basket off at halftime? It's not exactly controversial. The ball didn't leave his hand in time. Saying things like "if they're allowed to have this basket" is ridiculous. Sorry, if players shoot around shots were allowed to count while the game wasn't going on the score would be a lot higher too.

If it wasn't for Jared Sullinger I think this kid would be the freshman of the year. Every game he gets better, the sky is the limit for this kid. Wouldn't be surprised if he was a multi-year All Big Ten player.

He has played solid D, rebounded very well for a guard and his 5 points at the end of the MSU game sealed our victory.

Want to complain about someone, how about Smot? He has gone from being terrible on D and solid on O to simply hurting us every time he touches the floor. I like the kid's potential, but man they need to put Horford out there when Morgan sits.

These fouls are making me want to pull my hair out, good lord. Also, Morgan still has a lot of work to do on his ball handling skills. It seems like everytime he puts the ball on the deck it's either stolen or he turns it over.

I don't get why Michigan doesn't pressure the ball when there is so little time remaining?!!! Look at what happened against tSIO in the B1G tourney last year....I don't know about anyone else but watching Iowa bring the ball up the floor with no pressure reminded me of that situation.

that Michigan squeeked out the win WTF kind of defense was that at the end. Letting them shoot 2 wide open 3's like we just didn't want to foul. Reminds me of the OSU game last year when we got burned. But we won, so Go Blue!

Hmm. Maybe if it hits the rim at all it bounces around like 7 times. Oh well, another little Iowa guy showed on the screen so I knew it was about to be rebounded. It bounced to the rebounder at such an angle that it looked like it went in at first, and I did a double take sort of.

i can't believe how smotrycz, novak and douglass have completely disappeared the past week or so. Before game 1, I would have predicted that those guys would be 1,2,3 in scoring on this team in some order for the year.

Thank God for morris, morgan and hardaway. all are playing way above my expectations. looks really good for next year and beyond.

Yea, the same Iowa team who blew out MSU and was extremely close to beating Wisconsin in that building in the last couple weeks. It's a solid win and one we needed. I'm just glad that the next 3 games still mean something and will keep me entertained. Next year is going to be fun.

MSU is probably making the tournament. Wisconsin is probably going to be a 2 seed (hopefully bumped to 3 after we beat them). My point is that Iowa is a tough place to play despite what their record indicates. I don't understand how you can't judge Belein's coaching ability. This team alone was 1-6 in the Big Ten and now are 7-8 with an outside shot at the NCAA tourney. A team that has zero seniors and was picked by many to be last in the conference this year. Yet here they are at 17-11 overall and a few buckets away from having some real signature wins this year.

Yes, last year was a let down. It happens. I don't get why people still like to hate on Beilein. He's a darn good basketball coach and we're starting to see the beginning of his vision for Michigan basketball come together.

Few predicted we'd even get an NIT bid. I think this win locks that up. Now we're gunning for the bubble of the big dance. With our lineup? Yeah, I'll take that. This team is great. They never quit. The keep giving 100% all the time, even if that 100% is not so good on some days, it's still 100%. The fact that they are playing so much better now than we thought is a testament to the coach. We have a young, fun team with an upside so high we can't see the top...

BIG win! Now back to Crisler on Wednesday to play the biggest and most important game of the year. This is our LAST chance to get that statement win which we desperately need to build up our resume. If you are in AA this week COME TO THIS GAME! After two back-to-back road games im sure the team is going to play with passion when they come home to face the #10 team in the nation. Also, the Crisler rims might be nice on Novak..

the Beilein bashing gets old. Yeah, I'd love to know why he allows the other team to roll the ball to half court before picking it up and doesn't send someone to rush that ball and make them play it. But I have no doubt he has his reasons and that the reasons are sound. He's coached basketball a lot longer than I have so I'll defer to him. His teams improve through the season. They play better at the end than at the beginning. That shows great coaching. He's recruiting better and better players. The upside on this team is sky high. I look forward to complaining about our final four losses in the future.

The team is trying really hard and has exceeded all expectations. I am looking forward to Wisconsin despite the recent history of being 0-9 against them. Perfect time to break the streak and further increase Tourney chances.